South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 126

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116  THE    EX-PARTE    COUNCIL.
courtesy,  and  "  contrary  to  the  Scriptures."  1  Peter,  iv  :
15;  2  Thess.,  iii,  11.
That  the  South  Church  was  not  before  the  Council,  will
appear  from  the  fact  that  we  had  at  the  date  it  was  called,
one  hundred  and  fifty-two  members,  (not  including  those
who  had  taken  letters  of  dismission.)  Of  these  one  hun-
dred and  fifty-two  members  not  dismissed,  forty-seven  are
males ;  of  these  forty-seven  males  not  dismissed,  only
fifteen  signed  the  petition  for  the  Council, — the  other  five
not  being  recognized  as  members  by  this  Church,  which  as
an  independent  body,  has  alone  the  right  to  determme  who
are  its  members  and  who  are  not.  Are  fifteen  a  majority
of  forty-seven  1  Are  twenty,  "  styling  themselves  a  major-
ity of  the  brethren,"  a  majority  of  fifty-tliree  ?  which  is  our
number  of  males  if  we  include,  as  they  do,  the  five  peti-
tioners dismissed,  and  one  dismissed  who  is  not  a  petitioner?
No  !  And  yet  they  ought  to  have  known  that  they  were
not  a  majority,  and  might  have  known  it  had  they  used
the  proper  means,  and  thus  have  saved  themselves  this
exposure.
Tlius  the  petitioners,  members  of  this  Church,  were  not
what  they  claimed  to  be,  a  majority  of  the  brethren,  much
less  of  the  membership,  of  the  Church.
'•  First  of  all,  tliis  Council  has  made  a  communication  to  the  Church
through  its  clerk  and  standing  committee,  and  also  to  the  Rev.  J.  Hal-
sted  Carroll  as  another  parly  iuterosted  in  the  matters  referred  to  us,
inviting  them  to  appear  andofler  any  explanations  wliich  they  may  de-
sire to  make  concerning  tlie  transactions  complained  of.  But  these  in-
vitations have  been  explicitly  declmed.  "We  are  sorry  to  add,  we  have
been  denied  all  access  to  the  records  of  the  Church,  and  that  llio  com.
plainants  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  authentic  copies  of  the  records,
which  they  desired  to  present  for  our  consideration."
Two  facts  are  here  stated  :  «'  1.  llev.  Mr.  Carroll  '  declin-
ed '  to  appear,  and  the  records  were  '  denied.'  ".  Reasons : —
Rev.  Mr.  Carroll  declined  because  he  failed  to  see  any  juris-
diction over  him  by  said  Conneil,  not  being  a  member  of  the
Association,  nor  a  minister  of  their  denomination,  but_  a
Presbyterian  clergyman.     The  churcli  declined  sending  its

Cite this page

Silent Grounds Collective, Church Burial & Death Records, CH-P004-0126. South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865, printed page not verified, PDF page 126. Hallock, Gerard, 1800-1866; digitized copy contributed by University of California Libraries https://archive.org/details/historyofsouthco00hall/page/n130/mode/1up Accessed September 8, 2026.

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